


Lost Boys

by Romennim



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Angst, Law & Order AU, M/M, Multi, POV Male Character, POV Third Person, Spock is human, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-03
Updated: 2013-05-03
Packaged: 2017-12-10 07:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/783643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romennim/pseuds/Romennim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A case affects Jim deeply and sheds some light on his past. Leonard and Spock try to help him cope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost Boys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [klmeri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/klmeri/gifts).



> Written for klmeri's birthday.  
> My dear, this was the idea I had when, a year ago, you asked me for "something you had never written before": a fusion. In fact, I have never written a story set in an alternate universe before.  
> I can only say sorry for taking so long, but you know how my muse has been almost non-existent this past year, and I will say sorry also because the story had come out a bit more angsty than I previously thought. Please, forgive me.  
> That said, I hope you will enjoy it anyway! :) This is my gift for you, and a thank you for your friendship. You know how much it means to me.
> 
> Thanks to morena_evensong (on lj) who was very kind and betaed the fic in record time.
> 
> WARNINGS for the readers: there's no graphic violence in the fic, but this is still a Law & Order fusion, so there will be mentions of violent acts: the murder of an adult (a mother) and the brutal beating of a pre-teen who sees his mother's murder. There's also a little girl who is not directly hurt physically, but who is hurt emotionally and psychologically by seeing her mother murdered and her brother hurt severely. There are also hints of past abuse for a main character, but nothing really clear. (yes, I know, the last warning is not clear either, but you'll see what I mean. I admit I think this last warning is a bit of an overkill, but warnings are important, and you never know what can affect someone, so I did it anyway)

Jim was furious. No, actually, he was beyond furious.  
   
"Captain!" he almost shouted, "We can't just let him go!"  
   
"Kirk" Pike said sharply, his tone low enough to let Jim know he should tread carefully, "We don't have ground to keep him, and you know it."  
   
"It can't be, Sandy has clearly said..."  
   
"She's only six years old, Kirk, and almost out of her mind for the shock of seeing her mother murdered and her brother beaten to a pulp!"  
   
Jim swallowed, the image of Sandy Lowenstein's terrified gaze when they'd found her still too fresh and horrifying in his mind. Cases where little children were involved were the hardest, particularly for Jim. He didn't want to let the girl down.  
   
"Collins has been arrested twice in the past ten years for domestic violence," he countered.  
   
"That doesn't place him on the scene the night of the murder, Detective."  
   
Damn, he knew Pike was right, but he _knew_ Collins was their man, he knew it, and...  
   
"There's the neighbor who saw him -"  
  
He was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking and turned in time to see Spock entering. Despite everything, he couldn't help but relax a little. Spock was good and the entire department trusted him, quite a feat to accomplish for a district attorney.  
   
"What did Harper say? Is he willing to testify in court?" asked Pike with no preamble.  
   
Spock glanced at Jim and then resolutely looked at Pike.  
   
"No. He said it was too dark to be sure from his position."  
   
Jim was speechless.  
   
"But that's... that's... I can't believe it, I'm out of here!" he said through his teeth, turning around.  
   
The sound of 'Kirk!' from Pike and 'Jim' from his partner were drowned out by the door closing loudly. The entire bullpen was surreptiliously trying not to look at him. Jim just marched ahead.  
   
\---  
   
Leonard tried not to wince at the loud closing of the door. Well, that couldn't have gone better, he knew. Jim has been on edge since the beginning of the case and the fact that their perp seemed to have several strokes of luck so far and they had found nothing to tie him down with didn't help at all.  
   
The lack of results had worn out his partner, who was holding up more like a rookie than the capable detective he had come to respect. Children were the problem: Jim was unable to keep the proper emotional distance from the victims when kids were involved; and Leonard sympathized, really. You never got used to violence against children.  
   
Still, Jim's behaviour of the last minutes was entirely unprofessional, and not the Captain's fault: every detective knows what a clusterfuck taking someone to trial with no tying proof is.  
   
He spared a look in Spock's direction, but the man was a portrait of blankness, his standard expression when things he wasn't involved with went south.  
   
Leonard looked at Pike, but the man was looking at his hands.  
   
"McCoy."  
   
"Yes, Captain."  
   
"Go and find your partner." A pause. "And make sure he doesn't fuck up. This case is already a mess without his help."  
   
\---  
   
Leonard found his wayward partner in the break room. He paused on the treshold at the sound of abuse being committed by Jim against the coffee machine.  
   
"You know you'll never see the light of day again if you break the thing." He drawled, tone easy. Jim's shoulders stiffened anyway. "The coffee machine is sacred, ya know?"  
   
Jim turned slowly, eyes fixed onto a point near Leonard's head.  
   
Bad. If Jim's eyes didn't bore into yours when he looked, it was bad.  
   
"I'll have to blame you, then, won't I?"  
   
That was said with a grin and Leonard almost sighed in relief: he didn't want to deal with an angry Jim at two steps from the bullpen. Cops were a curious and gossip-greedy - almost creepy sometimes - lot. Jim didn't deserve to deal with his issues and have the entire station know about them.  
   
"What do you say about going to the hospital and seeing how Sandy and her brother are doing, instead?"  
   
The idea came out of the blue, but it was good: seeing the girl would surely set Jim's head straight, reminding him why he needed a clear mind.  
   
Jim nodded.  
   
"It's the best idea someone's had today."  
   
\---  
   
Jim knew dealing with young victims wasn't easy, but seeing them bandaged and lying in a hospital bed was worse.  
   
Nothing drove home their hurting more than seeing their vitality gone and their face a study in despair. But Sandy's smile actually lit up when she lifted her gaze and saw Leonard and Jim entering her room.  
   
"Jim!" she cried delighedly. "I knew you would come!"  
   
The other person in the room, seated at Sandy's bedside, turned on her chair, revealing a very familiar woman: a social worker they met often for their cases. She smiled too.  
   
"Jim. Leonard." Nyota Uhura greeted them. "It's good to see you."  
   
Jim walked into the room, attention on the small girl who was already bouncing slightly in her bed. Leonard, instead, looked at Uhura and gestured her to come outside. Nyota looked briefly at Sandy, but she was completely riveted by Jim.  
   
"How's the kid? She seems better than I expected." Leonard asked as soon as they were in the corridor. Nyota grimaced.  
   
"She doesn't remember anything. The shock has blocked out her memories. At the moment that's probably the only way her mind can cope with what has happened.”  
   
Leonard nodded and cursed Collins inside his mind. The son of a bitch would pay for this.  
   
"And her brother?"  
   
The social worker sighed deeply.  
   
"He hasn't woken up yet, but the doctors say it should be soon."  
   
Leonard's mouth tightened.  
   
"Okay. Let us know when he wakes up."  
   
"Of course, Leonard."  
   
She looked back into the room, where Jim was entertaining the kid with a grand tale, if the gestures and Sandy's big smile were any indication.  
   
"How's Jim holding up?"  
   
Leonard smiled ruefully.  
   
"Not very well, but we'll manage. This visit should do him some good."  
   
Nyota nodded.  
   
"Let me know if I can do something." she said, squeezing briefly his arm, before going back to Sandy.  
   
\---  
   
"Nyota likes you, you know?"  
   
Jim's words pulled Leonard abruptly from his thoughts. They were walking into the precinct, but at that Leonard stopped and looked sharply at Jim. His partner, though, was looking at anything but him.  
   
"Jim, what the hell? Where's this coming from?"  
  
Jim sighed deeply, but didn't say anything more. Leonard wanted to sigh too, but refrained. He couldn't believe Jim was taking out this thing, _again_.  
  
“Jim” he said, almost exasperated. “We have already talked about this. Even if she's interested, I'm most certainly not.”  
  
Jim's shoulders relaxed a bit, but not completely, and he still wasn't looking at him. Leonard lost the last remnants of his patience and grabbed the man, leading him to a semi-deserted area of the station. It didn't afford them total privacy, but it was way better than talking about this in the main entrance.  
  
Once there, though, Leonard was at a total loss. He was quite sure Jim's issue now wasn't jealousy, but he had no idea what it could be. The man was still refusing to look at him, and Leonard's impatience surged forward again, the wariness grown during the day only fueling it.  
  
“What the hell is your problem?” he asked, harshly.  
  
In a second, Jim's eyes were on him. He looked almost... _defeated_. Wary of everything. The sight formed a lump in Leonard's troath. He hated seeing Jim like that. It was wrong. It reminded him of too many abused children.  
  
The thought was like a lightning and suddenly a lot of little hints, of absent pieces in the story of the man made awful sense. A feeling of dread began to creep in Leonard's gut.  
  
The sudden understanding must have been plain on his face, because Jim paled and turned around again. There was a faint tremor running in his frame. Leonard was at a total loss at what to do. He felt completely inadequate to deal with this.  
  
What can you really say to a....  
  
He didn't even know what had happened. Jim never talked about his childhood, about his dead parents.  
  
Maybe he didn't know, but seeing his partner so dejected, and hurting, was too much and on instinct, not caring who in that moment could see, he went to him, gently turned him around and hugged him.  
  
Jim's body was stiff, but after a few moments he relaxed, almost sagging against him. Leonard just kept on holding him. There was only one thing he could say in that moment.  
  
“We will catch him, Jim. We will.”  
  
He put every bit of conviction he had in those words. He believed them completely.  
  
\---  
  
Wordlessly, they separated and went back to the bullpen. With relief, Leonard could see that there was a new energy in Jim's steps. He hoped his words had really helped him, and that this newfound confidence would last.  
  
As soon as they had put foot in the bullpen, Sulu stopped them.  
  
“There's a Mr. Milton for you. He's waiting at your desks.”  
  
Jim shot him a look, but Leonard didn't know who the man was either. He just hoped he was good news, for once.  
  
\---  
  
The doorbell rang exactly at eight pm and Leonard stood up from his comfortable place on the sofa with a sigh. He only hoped it wasn't their helpless neighbor asking for help for the fourth time that week. He didn't deserve to deal with that too, after the current day.  
  
He opened the door and smiled at the sight before him. Spock's tiny smile answered back.  
  
“Oh, good, it's you.” he said, stepping back and letting the other man enter.  
  
“Afraid it would be Mr. Williams?” asked Spock with a smirk, while pulling off his coat.  
  
Leonard huffed.  
  
“You would be too, if you were ever here when he needs help. That man is a menace with every electrical appliance known to man.”  
  
At that, Leonard took a step forward, suddenly craving Spock's calming presence. The man seemed to understand his intentions and left on the jacket of his suit. He opened his arms instead.  
  
Leonard went to him, and almost clung to him, breathing deeply. Years ago, before getting together with Jim and Spock, he would have felt foolish displaying so much need. And even now, sometimes, he felt dismayed when he needed these gestures. He was older than Jim, and even Spock, and he shouldn't need this- he should provide it maybe.  
  
But their relationship had taught him that each one of them had their strenghts and weaknesses, and that together they were balanced and strong. Showing what he wanted wasn't a weakness, it was a way for the other two to know what he needed. After two years, talking about that almost wasn't necessary.  
  
Today, though, had showed how they still didn't know everything about each other. Until yesterday, Leonard would have sworn he knew every important thing about his partners. The sense of betrayal he thought he would feel at knowing that it wasn't like that had been totally swept aside by the shocking insights into Jim's childhood. Insights, because the man still hadn't said anything about it. Leonard didn't know whether to push or let Jim set the pace.  
  
Anyway, at the moment, he needed the certainty of Spock's solid presence and he kept on hugging the man. Spock had remained silent, but Leonard knew he wouldn't stay like that for long. Jim's absence (he always greeted Spock when he got home after them) and Leonard's display would send an alarmbell off.  
  
“Where is Jim?”  
  
Here it was.  
  
“Soaking in the tub.”  
  
Leonard could almost see Spock's bewildered expression. Jim didn't like water at all, and he wouldn't be caught wasting time in a tub for anything. The sofa was his sworn best friend, with either the TV or a book.  
  
“I am almost afraid of asking what happened.”  
  
Leonard sighed.  
  
“Were you able to incriminate Collins?” he asked, pulling himself from the embrace.  
  
Spock looked at him questioningly, but answered anyway.  
  
“Yes. Milton's testimony places him on the crime scene at the right time. And James has woken up half an hour ago.”  
  
“Really?” Leonard asked, surprised. He knew the doctors had said Sandy's brother would wake up soon, but he hadn't felt as confident about it. “How is he?”  
  
“Hurt. Shocked. The doctor told me he should remember. Tomorrow you and Jim should go and talk to him.”  
  
Leonard nodded. It was perfect for the trial, if the boy remembered, but he didn't want to think about how those memories would affect the kid. Deep down, he almost hoped the boy wouldn't remember anything, for his sake of mind.  
  
His thoughts went, then, to another boy... a boy he didn't know enough about, evidently.  
  
“You should tell Jim. It should help him out of this funk.”  
  
“Is it only a funk, Leonard?”  
  
Spock was too sharp for Leonard's good, sometimes.  
  
“No, it's not. But I'm not sure I should be the one telling you.”  
  
Spock sent him an inquisitive look.  
  
“No, he hasn't talked to me, either, for now. I just guessed.”  
  
Leonard sighed. He felt so useless sometimes. And tired, very tired. If not for Jim, he would consider an early retirement. His work was beginning to get to him.  
  
Spock had almost reached the bathroom door when something occurred to him.  
  
“Why did Milton wait so long to come forward?”  
  
Spock chuckled.  
  
“He was there to meet his lover. He didn't want to come forward and risk his wife discovering everything.”  
  
“What made him change his mind?”  
  
“He was very upset when he learned about Sandy and James. He has two kids of the same age.”  
  
\---  
  
Leonard cooked dinner for him and Spock, while the man was in the bathroom with Jim. For the first time in a very long time he didn't know how to deal with his two partners. Should he join them in the bathroom? Would Jim feel overwhelmed with the two of them there? Or should he just wait in the kitchen while Spock worked his calming magic on Jim?  
  
He didn't know and, in his indecision, he remained in the kitchen.  
  
When he heard the bathroom door open, though, he was up in a second and in the bedroom the next, where Spock was helping Jim settle in bed. Jim was letting Spock move him around, exhaustion etched into every line of his body.  
  
Leonard waited untill Spock's work was completed and joined Jim in bed, lying beside him, while Spock sat on the bed on his other side.  
  
Jim's eyes were barely open, and sleep would clearly claim him soon. Maybe it was better this way, for now. Jim needed the rest.  
  
Leonard carded his fingers through Jim's hair, slowly caressing his head. In a moment, Jim's eyes shuttered closed and his breath deepened. Leonard kissed him on the forehead.  
  
“We are here, Jim. Sleep well.”

**Author's Note:**

> I liked writing this fusion a lot, so I wouldn't be against writing something more set in this universe, maybe about how they all met. If anyone is interested, or has requests, please let me know. I'll try to meet them :)


End file.
